Kayex layoffs to start May 16, plant to close May 29

SPX’s Corp.’s Chili-based Kayex Corp. is closing its plant, a filing Friday with the state Department of Labor shows.

The business, a wholly owned subsidiary of SPX Corp., cited economic conditions as the reason for the closing. The filing states 57 of the 65 workers there will be terminated over a two-week period beginning May 16.

The remaining eight workers are to be transferred to other SPX business units, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing states. The plant is slated to close May 29.

Charlotte, N.C.-based SPX has two business units in Rochester. Kayex develops and manufactures silicon-crystal-growing furnaces for the global semiconductor and photovoltaic (solar) industries. SPX’s Lightnin division focuses on the process equipment market. The Lightin employed roughly 272 workers in Rochester as of 2010.

Company officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the plant closing.

Kayex started as HAMCO Machine in 1952. It was a circular-saw company that carried a full line of wafer saws. The name changed to Kayex Corp. in 1971, and in 1973 the company began production of its first crystal grower.